Back in 2015, AFL star Adam Goodes career was thrown up in the air after he was subjected to a series of racial slurs that ultimately prompted him to retire from the sport.
But conversely, his relationship with wife Natalie Croker has always been kept extremely private, with both parties choosing to keep a relatively low profile.
So who is the leading lady in Adam’s life? Here’s what we know.
Adam reportedly popped the question to Natalie in April 2016 after two years of dating and the pair were married in an intimate ceremony in the NSW Southern Highlands with just 20 guests in attendance.
“I’ve only learnt about my culture in the past 10 years and for me finding out that has come with this sense of identity and purpose I’ve since felt having been connected to that culture. I had an Indigenous wedding ceremony with my wife, who’s not Indigenous and she was able to learn about her kinship,” Goodes told GQ in 2019.
Adam and Natalie tied the knot in a small, intimate ceremony in 2016.
(Image: Getty Images)Natalie also spoke about their intimate wedding and the reason why they kept it relatively private.
On the red carpet at the Autumn/Winter launch for David Jones, Natalie told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It was not a super secret wedding. The way we have conducted our relationship in our own way is the way we decided to have our wedding.”
“We’re really big on family and it’s a really special thing that we decided to do and we wanted to share it with people that are closest to us and not Instagram,” she said shortly after they tied the knot, before adding that married life is “much of the same – I just know whatever I ask him to do I can hold it to him for life.”
“The way we have conducted our relationship in our own way is the way we decided to have our wedding.”
(Image: Getty Images)But two months after their low-key wedding, the newlyweds threw a reception-style party at Sydney’s Carriageworks with 200 family members and friends.
“I was pretty emotional. It was one of the best days of my life waiting for Natalie up there,” Adam said of their day, adding: “I think having a party for 200 people was really special.”
Bride Natalie wore a sequined glitter jumpsuit and flower crown, while her groom looked dapper in a white shirt and jacket with matching white loafers.
Adam revealed that he and Natalie had an Indigenous wedding ceremony.
(Image: Instagram @yolly22)
Picture perfect!
(Image: Instagram @_biancalovick)The Sydney Swans great and his wife welcomed their first child in June 2019, a baby girl named Adelaide and Adam says he is keen to educate her in her Indigenous heritage.
Before Adelaide was born, Adam said, “Every opportunity we can we’ll be giving him or her an Indigenous experience, teaching him or her about what it means to be Aboriginal. For me as a father, I feel I have a role to play to instil that culture, as well as discipline and having fun.”
WATCH: Jesinta Campbell says Adam Goodes will make a better future for her children.
